A Pencil for Your Thoughts
by InCaseOfEmergencyBreakGlass
Summary: Max doesn't know what to make of his junior year. He's barely passing History and all of sudden the popular Kai Hiwatari is paying attention to him now. What is he even supposed to do with that?


Carefully setting the pencil on the bridge of my nose, I concentrated on trying to balance it precariously. I heard someone snort, and it was only out of curiosity that I turned my head to find out whom. The pencil flew across the room so quickly that I only had about five seconds to be properly embarrassed.

"Mr. Tate, eyes ahead please." I flushed, turning back just as fast.

"Sorry, Sir." His eyes strayed over to the right, focusing on something behind me before taking back to his lesson.

"You'll be having your test on Wednesday, so if you haven't been paying attention now would be the time to catch up on your notes." I felt the color drain from my face when a not so subtle look was thrown my way. Scrambling to place my notebook in the correct position in front of me instead of the side of the desk where it had somehow been pushed off to during the lesson, I nearly tipped over my chair.

The last thing I needed was to go home at the end of the day and have to show my father the low mark I had in History all because I couldn't find it in me to listen. It was only when I made a blind grab at my pencil that I realized my only pencil had soared across the room. I wasn't delusional enough to think that I could remember everything we were going over by the time the class was over. I really needed that pencil.

I twisted slowly in my seat, my eyes widening when they locked onto the little yellow stick that I never knew I would want so bad. Rising up as slowly as I could, I attempted to use the girl in front of me as a cover.

"Mr. Tate! Where do you think you're going?" I spun around, trying my hardest not to take my eyes off the pencil.

"Um," I rubbed at the back of my neck nervously. "Just needed a bit of a stretch, you know?"

"No," he said seriously. "I don't. Now sit." I didn't dare think about disobeying, and with one final look toward my pencil I hesitantly took my seat.

The rest of the lesson didn't go any better. By the time he was done talking and all you could hear was the faint scratching of lead against paper, I still wasn't any closer to knowing who the Boxers were other than a group of rebels in Chinese society.

I gave into temptation five minutes later and quickly spun around, my eyes automatically seeking out my pencil. The empty spot on the floor where my pencil once resided had me narrowing my eyes. It was only the quiet, steady tap on the desk in the corner that managed to get my attention. I nearly fell out of my chair when I finally looked up. Sitting there was Kai Hiwatari, tapping a pencil almost condescendingly against the wood.

He stared back at me, and it was only in my sudden haste to break the eye contact that I happened to glance at his own paper. The marks of a pen were clearly visible from where I was sitting, making my eyes narrow. I pointedly looked back at the floor, making sure I hadn't just accidentally ignored it before staring accusingly at him. My staring didn't seem to bother him much because he never once stopped bouncing the tip of the eraser against his desk. He slowly lifted his hand, wagging the pencil in the air experimentally. It was only because of the pencil that I found my eyes following his movement obediently.

I dared to pull my eyes away from him, and instead focused on the clock hanging precariously by the door. Even if I had somehow managed to get to my pencil what was I supposed to do then? I might have been desperate but there was no way that I was about to rip a pencil out of the hands of one of the most popular guys in school. I gave one more huff before I turned around and stared pathetically at the nearly blank pages of my notebook. It wasn't completely empty at least. There were some notes from when the class had first started and a doodle that had somehow managed to break passed the line of the margins and make its way onto the rest of the paper. I thought it looked pretty good.

It wasn't long before the bell rang and the class was dismissed. I had lunch next, and Tyson was good in History. Maybe I could get some notes from him. The cafeteria was as packed as it had been since the year began and I quickly made sure to stake a claim to my place at the table in the very corner up against the wall. I quickly placed my things there, turning just as quickly to make my way to the vending machines.

The food here was disgusting but the drinks were to die for. Kai wandered back into my thoughts somewhere between deciding whether I wanted Orange Fanta or Pepsi and it didn't help make my decision any easier. The machine suddenly clanked, dropping a soda into the bottom for me to pick up.

"I would get the Pepsi." I carefully allowed my gaze to slide to my left and onto the figure leaning coolly against the wall. When I didn't respond he pushed himself away from it to the front of the machine, bending down and pulling out the Pepsi.

"Kai, you coming?" Kai turned to look toward the boy staring at him from his seat at the front table. I barely recognized him but his red hair was unmistakable. After all, Tala Ivanov was just as popular in this school as Kai was.

"Yeah." Kai nodded, holding out the bottle to me as he smirked. "Try not to choke." I didn't need to be able to see my face to know that it was definitely brighter than it should have been. The simple implication of his words had me spluttering and I could barely fight down my embarrassment long enough to grab the Pepsi from his expecting hands.

I could hear him chuckling even as he turned away and made his way over to his table. I mentally scolded myself, following in his suit and walking back to where Tyson and Kenny were no doubt waiting for me. It was only when I actually sat down and looked around that I realized Ray wasn't sitting in his usual spot across from me.

"Where's Ray?" I gently twisted the cap off the soda, letting it hover over the table just in case it fizzed over the top.

"He's talking to Mr. Alvarez about some extra credit assignment or something. Said he'd be a little late." Tyson didn't bother looking up from the Bento in front of him and I perked up when I saw him pull out rice balls.

"Is that Ray's?" I asked, already reaching out my hand and gently pulling one out.

"Yup," Tyson answer, doing the same.

"I see you guys have started without me." I smiled around the rice ball and hummed a greeting.

"Ray, I have your bento here." Kenny hastily turned around as he grabbed his book bag and pulled out the small box. Ray gave a warm smile, reaching over to gingerly pluck it out of Kenny's hands. As I grabbed another rice ball Tyson had somehow managed to pull Kenny and Ray into a conversation and my eyes had wandered over to the front table. It was easy to find Kai amongst the crowd of people that hovered around their table. There was an air of mystery around him, and even as he sat surrounded by anyone who was anyone in the school he still looked incredibly untouchable.

"Who are you looking at over there, Max?" I nearly jumped out of my seat turning so fast. And Tyson was staring at me with a raised eyebrow and a small, amused smile when I did.

"No one." I spared one more look at Kai and no one was more surprised than me when I found myself staring into his eyes. Even from here I could see the small smirk playing across his lips. The sight was enough to get me to look away but I could already feel my face getting hotter. "Um, Tyson," he looked up at me expectantly.

"Yeah?" I took one more glance back before carefully shaking my head.

"Do you have any more pencils?"

_I'm trying something new here with this story and I think I kind of like it. Just to be clear this is a KaiMax story. I haven't seen a lot of High School AUs floating around lately and the fact that in the Anime the subject is only really touched upon in the second season got me curious. I still don't know how many of you will like this, so if you do happen to be interested in this little monster just drop a review and let me know so at least I know someone's enjoying it. _


End file.
